Sony Ericsson announced today at its Developer World conference plans for a new technology that bridges Adobe Flash Lite and Java ME development platforms.

The technology, called Project Capuchin, allows Java ME (formerly known as J2ME) applications to use Flash Lite as the front-end interface for mobile phone applications.

“In using Flash, you typically can’t access properties of the phone. But with Capuchin, you can get at information and applications in the phone and use that info with the Flash display,” said Christopher David, director of long-term platform planning at Sony Ericsson.

The Java ME/Flash Lite connection will be a two-way street, so both can invoke the other, according to Ulf Wretling, director of Sony Ericsson Developer World. But most importantly, Flash content is packaged as a Java JAR file for use on Java ME-compatible mobile phones.

Read the full article on InternetNews.com

All that said, I guess it’s about time for Sony to have a win in the format war. Let’s recap the list of proprietary losers in the companies past:

• Betamax — Beat by VHS
• MiniDisc — Never had a chance
• ATRAC Audio Format — Beat by MP3
• SDDS (Sony Dynamic Digital Sound) — Beat by Dolby Digital 5.1
• Memory Stick — Beat SD cards
• Super Audio CD — Beat by good old fashioned CDs
• Universal Media Disc for movies — LOL
• 1GB Hi-MD discs — Have you even heard of these?
• 125 MB Magneto-optical discs — Again, have you even heard of these?

An important note: before downloading Update #5, you must first download and install the Flash Lite 3 Update for Device Central CS3 and for Flash CS3 Professional (2 separate updates).

Why is this important? Adobe offers installers for Flash Lite 2.1 for Windows Mobile 5.0, Flash Player 7 for Pocket PC 2003, and the Flash Player 6 for Windows Mobile 2002. Although this does not have the mass market appeal of Verizon Wireless, it is certainly notable.

Flash is pre-installed on:

• 70 Nokia Phones (includes N96)
• 58 Sony Ericsson Phones
• 13 BREW Phones
• 6 Sony CLIE PDAs
• All NTT Docomo handsets
• All KDDI handsets

Flash can be installed on:

• Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PC Phone Edition (166)
• Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PC Premium Edition (52)
• Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PC Professional Edition (10)
• Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 for Smartphone (61)
• Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC Phone Edition (25)
• Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC Premium Edition (54)
• Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 for Pocket PC Professional Edition (6)
• Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 for Smartphone (11)
• Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition for Pocket PC Phone Edition (57)
• Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition for Pocket PC Premium Edition (41)
• Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition for Pocket PC Professional Edition (4)
• Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition for Smartphone (35)
• Microsoft Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition (20)
• Microsoft Pocket PC 2002 Premium Edition (33)
• Microsoft Pocket PC 2002 Professional Edition (2)
• Microsoft Smartphone 2002 (7)

Note from Adobe.com:

Note: This version of Flash Player is for the individual use of developers of Pocket PC devices. For more information about Adobe’s Flash Player distribution policy read the FAQ.

When you download the free player, it is provided “as-is”—which means that Adobe will support it only for Windows Mobile 5 and Pocket PC 2003 OS devices through available online resources on our website. If you experience any problems for non-certified devices, you should discuss them with other developers in various forums.

The World’s Largest Handheld Database

Here is a short video of the new browser installed on Cameron’s Sony Ericsson K750i showing nytimes.com:

Source: Cameron Moll

There are 3 ways you can download the update (11.4MB):
- go to the direct URL in your browser from our new site, Adobe Device Central Online
- in the Device Central start window click the “device updates” button
- in the Device Central menu bar select Help > Updates…

This update contains 39 new device profiles from all regions of the world, many released between January to April 2007, as well as updates to 7 existing profiles. With this update you will have access to 265 device profiles as part of Device Central with most of them for supporting Flash Lite content in addition to other mobile media types.

New Device Profiles
DoCoMo Fujitsu F903i
DoCoMo Mitsubishi D903i
DoCoMo Motorola M702iG
DoCoMo Motorola M702iS
DoCoMo NEC N601i
DoCoMo NEC N703iD
DoCoMo NEC N903i
DoCoMo Panasonic P903i
DoCoMo Sony-Ericsson SO903i
KDDI Casio Hitachi E03CA
KDDI Casio Hitachi W43HII
KDDI Kyocera W44K
KDDI Sanyo W43SA
KDDI Sony-Ericsson W44S
KDDI Toshiba A5523T
KDDI Toshiba W46T
KDDI Toshiba W47T
Nokia E61i
Nokia E65
Nokia N77
Nokia N91
Nokia N95
Nokia 6290
Reigncom iriver Clix
Reigncom iriver U10
SoftBank Nokia 705NK
SoftBank Samsung 707SC
SoftBank Samsung 709SC
SoftBank Sharp 910SH
SoftBank Sharp 911SH
SoftBank Toshiba 811T
Sony-Ericsson W610i
Sony-Ericsson W880i
Verizon LG VX8100
Verizon LG VX8300
Verizon LG VX8500
Verizon LG VX9900
Verizon Samsung SCH-A930
Verizon Samsung SCH-A990
Expanded/Improved Device Profiles
DoCoMo Mitsubishi D701iWM
DoCoMo Mitsubishi D851iWM
DoCoMo NEC N506iSII
DoCoMo NEC N701iECO
DoCoMo Panasonic P506iCII
DoCoMo Panasonic P851i
DoCoMo Sony-Ericsson SO505i

Instructions on how to download and install the new device profiles are available on the device profile page.

Adobe released the mobile device profile update #5. Get it here. This update contains or makes changes to the following device profiles:

• Nokia 3250
• Nokia 5200
• Nokia 5300
• Nokia 5500
• Nokia 6085
• Nokia 6125
• Nokia 6131
• Nokia 6151
• Nokia 6300
• Nokia 7390
• Nokia 8800
• Nokia E50
• Nokia E60
• Nokia E61
• Nokia E62
• Nokia E70-1
• Nokia N70-1
• Nokia N71-1
• Nokia N73
• Nokia N75
• Nokia N80
• Nokia N91-1
• Nokia N92
• Nokia N93
• Nokia N93i
• Sony-Ericsson K600
• Sony-Ericsson K600c
• Sony-Ericsson K600i
• Sony-Ericsson K606c
• Sony-Ericsson K606i
• Sony-Ericsson K608c
• Sony-Ericsson K608i
• Sony-Ericsson K610iM
• Sony-Ericsson V600i
• Sony-Ericsson V800
• Sony-Ericsson W300i
• Sony-Ericsson W550c
• Sony-Ericsson W550i
• Sony-Ericsson W600c
• Sony-Ericsson W600i
• Sony-Ericsson W710i
• Sony-Ericsson W810i
• Sony-Ericsson W830a
• Sony-Ericsson W830c
• Sony-Ericsson W830i
• Sony-Ericsson W850i
• Sony-Ericsson Z712a
• Sony-Ericsson Z800i
• Verizon Motorola RAZR V3c
• Verizon Motorola RAZR V3m
• Verizon LG VX9800
• Verizon Samsung SCH-A950

Download here.

Tools and Resources:

1. Mobi Ready score
Get your free page analysis and Mobi Ready score. This report tests the mobile-readiness of your site using industry best practices & standards

2. XHTML mobile phone emulator
Type in your .com / .net / .org / .biz, etc. site address and you can check how your site looks to a typical mobile phone user. Available handsets are the Nokia n70 and a Sony K750.

3. Submit Your Mobile Site to yahoo.com
This form lets you submit a mobile site to yahoo.com so that the mobile site will be included in search results when someone searches via their mobile handset at http://wap.yahoo.com.

4. The Mobile Domainatron
The Mobile Domainatron demonstrates a domain name’s mobile usability including: Calculating total keystrokes required to input the domain name on a typical i-mode mobile.

5. Mimic
Mimic (formerly i-Mimic) emulates either an N400i (European) or N505i (Japanese) i-mode mobile. Simply enter a URL and select the mobile you want to emulate.

6. YOSPACE.com phone emulators
You can either use the free online emulator for the 40+ handsets or you can use the standalone developer version on your PC. From here you can download the standalone version with a restriction of 5 minutes of use. Alternatively, you can buy a single user license is £299 + UK VAT.

7. WURFL – the Wireless Universal Resource File
The WURFL is an XML configuration file which contains information about capabilities and features of several wireless devices. The main scope of the file is to collect as much information as possible about all the existing wireless devices that access WAP pages so that developers will be able to build better applications and better services for the users.

8. Article :: The Mobile Web Top 10
Pukupi’s top 10 hints for building interoperable mobile web sites really spells out much of what has been questioned regarding mobile Web site development.

9. Article :: Making Small Devices Look Great
Opera has put together this wonderful resource that gives code examples, tips, and emulator advice for developing mobile XHTML pages.

10. Article :: Global Authoring Practices for the Mobile Web
This document gives general guidelines for web developers and content authors who are searching for directions to help create sites for the mobile web.

11. Blog :: http://www.handheldusability.com/
Handheld Usability is the first book to cover the emerging field of handheld product design. The book covers everything from product design cycles to optimum menu length and audicon (audio-icon) characteristics. Read the first chapter and preview other sections here.